On November 29th, 2025, [#260 FW] Nurbek Kabdrakhmanov rematched [#173 FW] Jieleyisi Baergeng for the Naiza FC featherweight championship. In their first meeting at Naiza Fighter Championship 75, Nurbek defeated Baergeng by unanimous decision to capture the vacant title.
In the rematch, Baergeng extracted his revenge on Nurbek by split decision, but not without some controversy. Many fans as well as MMA insiders thought that Kabdrakhmanov deserved to have his arm raised. In light of this controversial decision, I decided to watch and score the fight myself.
Round 1: 10-9 Jieleyisi
Not a whole lot of action took place in the first round, with Nurbek being the more active fighter, but the most significant damage was scored by punches from Baergeng which hurt Nurbek on a couple of occasions.
Round 2: 10-10 draw
In the MMA and boxing’s “10-point must” system, judges are generally discouraged from scoring 10-10 rounds, even thought they are perfectly legal by the rules. I understand that no one likes a draw, being probably the least satisfactory outcome of a combat sport match short of a DQ or an NC. However, I don’t believe that a clear winner can be chosen in every round of every single fight. This round was one such example – a very close affair, without either fighter gaining a significant advantage.
Round 3: 10-9 Kabdarakhmanov
What matters the most when scoring a round – damage, control, pressure, aggression? The unified MMA rules judging criteria is somewhat vague on this. In the third round, Nurbek was the more active fighter; however Jieleyisi strikes seemed to have more of an impact. However unlike Round 1, there was no significant visible damage; therefore I award the round to Nurbek.
Round 4: 10-9 Kabdarakhmanov
In the championship rounds, both fighters began to slow down. Kabdarakhmanov started to pull ahead on the scorecards, being the more active fighter. Baergeng still appeared to land more powerful punches, however the lack of volume and aggression tilted the score towards Nurbek.
Round 5: 10-9 Kabdarakhmanov
Round 5 looked similar to 4, with Nurbek staying more busy. In my book, the activity level secured him the victory. However, Jieleyisi walked away with his arm raised, with two of the three judges scoring the fight in his favor.
Final Score: 49-46 Kabdarakhmanov
So how do you score a very close, fairly low output MMA fight, which had virtually no grappling and very limited kicking? Similar to a boxing match, I guess. While I usually agree with damage being the decisive criteria in a fight, Jieleyisi caused very little visible damage to his opponent after the first round. Based on all other things being nearly equal, Nurbek’s higher level of activity, aggression, and pressure, I disagree with the official decision.